NOTES FROM THE THEMATIC DISCUSSION: PLANNING, BUDGETING, and IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NUTRITIOUS LUNCH PROGRAM (MBG)
“Nothing has been more worrying for the City Government lately than waiting for clarity on various policies/programs of the Red and White Cabinet to be implemented in the regions. One of them is the Free Nutritious Meals program,” was the introduction delivered by Alwis Rustam, Executive Director of APEKSI. This introduction is the background for the collaborative work of APEKSI and Forum Bakti in organizing the Thematic Discussion: Planning, Organizing, and Implementing the Nutritious Lunch (MBG) Program online on Monday, December 23, 2024.
Based on the National Recap of the Odd Semester of the 2024/2025 Academic Year, the number of students in Indonesia from PAUD to SMA is 53,300,038 students in 439,444 schools. They are some of the beneficiaries of Nutritious Lunch (MBG). In addition to students, there are still toddlers, Islamic boarding school students, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. MBG is the first 100-day work program of President Prabowo’s administration, a step that is considered strategic to realize superior Indonesian human resources.
Dadang Wihana, Head of Depok Bappeda and Deputy Chair of the Bakti Forum Management moderated the discussion with a provocative question: Who Takes Care of Nutritious Lunch? The resource persons for this discussion included Dr. Hendriwan, M.H., M.Sc., Director of Regional Budget Planning and Acting Secretary of the Directorate General of Regional Financial Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ary Santoso, S.Stat., M.Sc., M.I.Pol., Special Staff of the National Nutrition Agency.
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) which manages this program has basic considerations stating that this program is urgent. Among them, facts related to nutritional adequacy for child growth and development, stunting, IQ scores, average number of family members per household economic class, to length of schooling. “This is a critical point of intervention,” argued Ary Santoso. He also shared about the MBG pilot project that has been implemented for 10 months.
“What’s in this BGN? There is a Head, there is a Deputy, there is a Technical Deputy, a Deputy for Systems and Governance, a Deputy for Provision and Distribution, a Deputy for Promotion and Cooperation, and a Deputy for Monitoring and Supervision. Under the Deputy for Provision and Distribution, there are Service Offices in 20 Provinces. There should be in all provinces, but there will only be in 20. There are no offices in the Regency/City, directly to the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG). This is where the public kitchen is.” explained Ary.
From the Directorate General of Keuda, Hendriwan conveyed the APBD posture and the amount of the Regional Government’s contribution to support the MBG program from the PAD-based APBD. Not only does it have an impact on children, the MBG program is expected to create economic turnover, especially for villages. The total budget value provided from the APBN is IDR 71 trillion. Based on PAD, the Regional Government is estimated to have the capacity to contribute APBD for the MBG program of IDR 23.77 trillion. Of that figure, cities contribute 23.73% or IDR 5.64 trillion. The percentage per city can be different, depending on the category of fiscal capacity. Some give 6.5% PAD, some 11% PAD. The schedule does not really fit with the flow of APBD preparation. Regional spending cannot be without rules. Clear Technical Instructions are needed.
“We will prepare MBG Support Technical Instructions sourced from the APBD. The Directorate General of Bina Bangda will prepare and compile account codes and nomenclature for the Nutritional Meal program, activities and sub-activities. The Directorate General of Keuda will prepare and compile account codes and nomenclature for sub-details of Nutritional Meal spending objects. When there is none, budget it in unexpected spending, later if there is a technical instruction it can be shifted,” said Mr. Hendriwan.
The speakers from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the Ministry of Home Affairs explained at length. However, for now, the most responses from the City Government are Andi Lau, aka between dilemma and disturbed. The 500 discussion participants who filled the virtual room enthusiastically asked questions to get answers: Who is taking care of MBG? Not only the budget, but also the technical aspects of the field. “We are still Andi Lau, aka between dilemma and galau,” they said. Asking a lot of questions is not because they are pessimistic, but as the advertisement says, children’s affairs throughout Indonesia cannot be tried and tested. It must be thought through carefully and collaborative work is a must.
This is just about the budget. There are still other issues such as food availability, infrastructure, risk mitigation, supply chain, KLB, HR, school clusters, waste management, and others. But don’t worry, as Indah Wibi Nastiti, General Manager of APEKSI said when closing the discussion, “This is just an insight-opening session. We will continue in the next exciting discussion with APEKSI and the Bakti Forum.” [GS]